SAM ALLARDYCE believes Premier League players are on the brink of taking legal action against the keyboard cowards who abuse them on social media.
West Brom contacted the police on Friday morning after Romaine Sawyers suffered ‘abhorrent’ racist abuse.
Romaine Sawyers, left, was racially abused on social media after the West Brom defeat to Manchester CityCredit: AP:Associated Press
The Baggies midfielder, 29, was targeted on social media during the midweek defeat to Manchester City.
Sawyers, from Birmingham, played the full 90 minutes on Tuesday as Allardyce’s side lost 5-0.
He was attacked with a vile message and in turn informed his club with West Midlands Police now investigating.
West Brom said on Friday morning: “West Bromwich Albion has today contacted West Midlands Police to report a racist message sent to Romaine Sawyers on social media.
“Everyone at the club is appalled by the abhorrent message which was sent during Tuesday’s Premier League fixture against Manchester City.
“The club has a proud history of confronting all forms of discrimination and will assist the authorities with their inquiries, seeking the toughest available legal punishment, as well as a lifetime ban from The Hawthorns for the individual responsible.
“Albion will offer Romaine the relevant support required at this time and continues with its long-standing commitment to help rid football of racism.
“There is No Room For Racism. Anywhere. Challenge it, report it, change it.”
Allardyce, who has yet to decide if Sawyers is mentally ready to face Fulham in Saturday’s critical relegation ‘six-pointer,’ said: “He is extremely upset as anyone would be.
“We’ve gone through the right channels with Romaine’s blessing and we’ll see what the outcome is. But listening to the news, there is more than Romaine who has suffered throughout football in the last few days, so it becomes a greater thing to try and put right.
“But where does it lie? And who does it lie with?
“I was listening to talkSPORT this morning and they were talking about whether a player should go further. Should they take legal action? That came from the PFA today.
“That is an avenue that the PFA and all the players involved can get together and choose the right course of action and the right way to go. But if it continues, it comes down to what is allowed to be posted on social media sites.
“I’m not a social media man and I have no platforms at all on social media but I was made aware of it yesterday and we’ve dealt with it as quickly as we possibly can, as has Romaine.
“We have reported it to the appropriate authorities. But it leaves a big question to the country or the government whether that’s enough? What action will be taken?
“The police are already extremely busy during the pandemic to be dealing with things like this as well, so it’s certainly something Romaine could do without, as well as everyone else within the game.
“No black person across the country should be open to abuse on social media.”
Sawyers came through the Baggies academy before leaving in 2013 to join Walsall.
He spent three years with the Saddlers and another three with Brentford before returning to The Hawthorns in 2019.
The centre-mid has 26 caps for the Saint Kitts and Nevis national team.
West Brom played a significant role in the acceptance of black footballers in the English game.
Cyrille Regis, Laurie Cunningham and Brendon Batson were key members of Ron Atkinson’s side in the late 1970s.
The sickening news surrounding Sawyers comes just a day after Manchester United pair Axel Tuanzebe and Anthony Martial were victims of racist abuse online.
Defender Tuanzebe took to social media in response with a message of unity, writing: “My race. My religion. My colour = football.”
Identifying these anonymous mindless idiots remains problematic. We urge social media platforms and regulatory authorities to strengthen measures to prevent this kind of behaviour.
Manchester United
The Old Trafford club said: “We utterly condemn it and it is encouraging to see other fans condemn this on social media also.
“Identifying these anonymous mindless idiots remains problematic.
“We urge social media platforms and regulatory authorities to strengthen measures to prevent this kind of behaviour.”
And Allardyce also called on social media platforms to do more to get their house in order – or the government should step in.
He added: “I’m only listening to what people more qualified than me are saying.
“At the end of the day it comes down to the government changing the legislation – or the laws are not sufficiently hard enough to get the social media sites to act in a more responsible way.
“We all know how good they are and how much money they bring in and how popular it is but we have to do our best to cut out this element of abuse.”
Axel Tuanzebe posts anti-racism video on Instagram after suffering vile abuse from social media trolls
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
